Words that are Speaking to Me

It begins with character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does. — William Faulkner

Slightly Invisible

This book will be for sale on May 10 and I suggest you make a plan to get it! I’ve read it to my own kids more than ten times already and today I shared it with two second grade classrooms. True to Lauren Child’s work, the illustrations + text are full of whimsy and [...]

Rereading. Rereading. Rereading.

Something that I’ve noticed about myself is the thing I do THE MOST when writing is rereading. I spend exorbitant amounts of time rereading. Then I reread some more. Then I reread it aloud. Something  I’ve noticed writers in classrooms DON’T do is reread. Hardly ever. And when they do reread it is rarely worthwhile. Today I [...]

Making Characters Come Alive

I liked this book.  A lot. It’s sweet and charming, and makes me realize that maybe there’s a part of me that’s a hopeless romantic.  After I read it, I had to track down the author and was pleased to find her website, blog, and Twitter feed. The thing that stuck with me the most [...]

Ruth’s SOLS: I Love My Dad!

Last week my dad turned sixty. My brother, his wife, Andy, and I decided it called for a party. So we planned (and pulled off) a surprise party for him. Saturday evening nineteen people came to my house to celebrate with us. It was great. We serve prime rib (Andy is an expert at steak), [...]

Slice of Life Tuesday

Keynotes On My Mind

The first time I attended a conference for teachers (I was in college), I attended a keynote speaker lunch. At the end of it, I told the people I was with, “Someday I hope I can give a keynote for teachers.” I love keynotes. I love when I laugh and cry and get goosebumps. I [...]

Nudging

I’ve been thinking about the difference between pushing and nudging lately. Last summer I listened to Katie Ray and Matt Glover talk about nudging primary students as writers. At first I didn’t think much about the term. However, it has marinated inside of me and is now part of the fabric of my understanding of [...]

Words that are Speaking to Me

“Have compassion for yourself when you write. There’s no failure — just a big field to wander in.” – Natalie Goldberg

Train Books I Love (And Kids Do Too)

Do you know this book? My son loves it. Like serious love. So I brought it into a second grade workshop and they loved it too. In fact, this week Duck vs. Gum and Penguin vs. Airplane have emerged in the classroom.  There are a million teaching points in this book, but one we highlighted [...]

A Tough Conference

Today I conferred with a fourth grade girl who was doing her best to write a feature article. I watched her for a few minutes before I conferred with her and noticed she had several pages written, but also seemed to be copying the research she printed (at home) about her topic. I pulled up [...]

Today’s Teaching Points

What were your teaching points in today’s minilessons? Here were mine: 4th grade feature article (informational writing) unit: Writers use specific words about the subject when writing informational texts. 4th grade fiction unit: Writers can use the setting to help show the mood of the characters. Leave a comment to share your teaching point from [...]

Slice of Life Tuesday

Link your slice here. Happy writing!

How Often Do You Celebrate Student Writing?

I know most of us relish in the small celebrations of student writing everyday. This happens when we use student work to teach a minilesson, give positive feedback during a conference, and give the opportunity for end of workshop share. However, I’m wondering how often do you give students an opportunity to celebrate their writing [...]

Words that are Speaking to Me

“Often I’ll find clues to where the story might go by figuring out where the characters would rather not go.” –Doug Lawson

Using Share Time to Ask for Help

This week I conferred with the student (K.) who wrote the above spread. The illustrations prior to this spread were rich with setting details. I was surprised when I turned to these pages and found no setting details. During the conference, I shared this noticing with K. He quickly grabbed his colored pencils and added [...]

First Grade Reflections

Today Maggie Gayton asked her first graders to write a reflection about what they have learned recently as a writer. Her students, using pictures and words, reminded us of the power of writing workshop and the importance of  reflecting on our writing lives.Maggie will post these reflections on her Celebrating Writers bulletin board along with [...]

Plotting Short Fiction

Last month at MRA, I listened to Jacqueline Woodson speak about her writing process. It wasn’t the first time I heard her speak and I hope it won’t be my last. She is one of the writers I consider as my personal mentor. Not to be over-dramatic, but listening to her last month changed my [...]

Guess What (Ruth’s SOLS)

Sam: Momma, guess what. Me: I don’t know, what? Sam: Get ready, because this is a big one. Me: Okay, what? Sam: Are you ready? Me: I’m ready. Sam: Okay, brace yourself and hold out your hands. Me: Okay, tell me. Sam: (arms stretched toward the ceiling, the biggest 5 year old grin you’ve ever [...]

Hello Slicers

Looking for Summer PD?

Check out the All-Write Summer Institute on June 20 – 21 in Warsaw, Indiana. I’ll be there along with… Jeff Anderson Ann Marie Corgill Georgia Heard Lester Laminack Debbie Miller Katie Wood Ray Terry Thompson Chris Tovani Teen author Kristina McBride Children’s author Barbara Morrow The price is incredibly reasonable, so even if you have [...]

Words that are Speaking to Me

Imagine yourself at the kitchen table, in your pajamas. Imagine one person you’d allow to see you that way, and write in the voice you’d use to that friend. — Sandra Cisneros

SOLSC Giveaways

For those slicers who are tenacious and wrote at least 28 days… A custom painted stool of your favorite children’s book by Deb Gaby! Cathy, on Friday April 1, 2011 at 4:57 pm said: 31 slices!!! My reflection is here…http://becoming-cathy.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-i-learned.html Thanks to all who read my slices. A Sari Book journal from Love Calcutta Arts donated by Accessories for [...]

Q&A for Today

Okay, so I saw these fun Q & A posts on Natalie Whipple and Kiersten White’s blogs and decided today we’ll host one here. The deal: You ask a question in the comments & I’ll try to answer it as soon as possible in the comments. So if you have a question — any question [...]

So I Owe You Two

Whoops, I didn’t post yesterday. I could give you a really good excuse like: The kids and I were shoe shopping with my mom. I was planning a new book with Christi O. I played outside in the grey day for hours with my kids. I made an awesome dinner. Or we can just chalk [...]